apify-sdk-patterns

name	apify-sdk-patterns
description	Production-ready patterns for Apify SDK and apify-client in TypeScript. Use when building Actors with Crawlee, managing datasets/KV stores, or implementing robust client wrappers with retry and validation. Trigger: "apify SDK patterns", "apify best practices", "apify client wrapper", "crawlee patterns", "idiomatic apify".
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit
version	1.0.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>
tags	["saas","scraping","automation","apify"]
compatible-with	claude-code

Apify SDK Patterns

Overview

Production patterns for both the apify SDK (building Actors) and apify-client (calling Actors remotely). Covers Crawlee crawler selection, data storage, proxy configuration, and typed client wrappers.

Prerequisites

• apify-client and/or apify + crawlee installed
• APIFY_TOKEN configured
• TypeScript recommended

Pattern 1: Typed Client Singleton

// src/apify/client.ts
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

let instance: ApifyClient | null = null;

export function getApifyClient(): ApifyClient {
  if (!instance) {
    const token = process.env.APIFY_TOKEN;
    if (!token) throw new Error('APIFY_TOKEN is required');
    instance = new ApifyClient({ token });
  }
  return instance;
}

// Reset for testing
export function resetClient(): void {
  instance = null;
}

Pattern 2: Crawlee Crawler Selection

Choose the right crawler for the job:

import { CheerioCrawler, ,  }  ;



 cheerioCrawler =  ({
   () {
     title = $().();
     .({ : request., title });
     ({ :  });
  },
});



 playwrightCrawler =  ({
  : { : { :  } },
   () {
     page.();
     title =  page.();
     content =  page.$eval(,  el.);
     .({ : request., title, content });
     ({ :  });
  },
});



 puppeteerCrawler =  ({
   () {
     title =  page.();
     .({ : request., title });
  },
});